The Jakarta Post, March 05, 2006
Massada to offer lively performance
They have been composing and playing songs with Indonesian lyrics throughout
Europe, particularly in the Netherlands for more than 30 years.
Yet, Dutch-Ambonese band Massada is going to perform in their homeland for the first
time this year at what Java Jazz (JJ) Festival is billing its "Moluccan Nite".
"This will be our first time performing in Indonesia," Massada founder/singer/composer
Johnny Manuhutu, 58, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, his face beaming with
happiness.
Speaking in old-style Indonesian, Manuhutu, who has lived in the Netherlands since
he was three years old, said he came here for the first time on a family visit last July,
when he met Paul Dankmeyer in Jakarta to discuss the possibility of going onstage in
JJ.
"I'm really happy that we will finally play here," said Manuhutu, a father of three who
wears his hair long.
Based in the small town of Huizen, near Amsterdam, the band had their heyday in the
1970s and 1980s, when their single, Sajang E, Ambonese for "darling", topped the
radio chart for three months.
"At that time we toured throughout Europe, to Germany, Spain and France, playing
seven nights a week," Manuhutu said.
During their golden period the band, which now has nine musicians and seven crew,
released five albums, most of which had Indonesian titles: Astaganaga, Pukul Tifa,
Pusaka, Massada Live and Baru. Their album Astaganaga recorded a platinum sales
success.
"Massada is one of the biggest Dutch-Ambonese bands in the Netherlands," said
band tour manager Glenn Pieter, 59, who went to the Netherlands when he was 22
and later became a Dutch citizen.
"Music history in the Netherlands cannot be separated from the role of Ambonese
people," Pieter said, adding that although the younger generation had taken up other
professions, many of Maluku descent still dominated the stages in the country.
"We play Latin rock, spruced up with Maluku style; listen to our songs -- you can feel
the sound of the homeland," Pieter said of the band, whose current fans were mostly
in their 40s and older.
Since the beginning, Massada has seen players come and go, with Johnny Manuhutu
a founder who has stayed.
Aknowledged Dutch session percussionist Nippy Noya, 60, who despite his
Ambonese family name, Noya, has a Japanese father and Manadonese mother, is
also one of the longest-serving players in the band, who still occasionally plays as a
guest.
Now they have younger musicians in their 30s and 20s, most of them of Maluku
descent except for Dutch keyboardist Wolfgang Roggenkamp.
Most of the band members learned to play musical instruments under their own
steam, except for Alvin Manuhuwa and Noya, who went to music school in Havana,
Cuba.
"I watched Nippy Noya play percussion in Jakarta about 25 years ago. His
performance left an indelible mark on me. Later, I got pirated Massada cassettes from
shops in Aldiron Plaza, Blok M," said Hendra Sinadia, a jazz enthusiast working in
Batam, told the Post.
"I was wandering around the hotel and I was told Massada is here having coffee. The
band's name brings back memories of my teen years. Is it the same Massada I knew
years ago? Apparently, it is," Hendra told the Post, with Manuhutu, Noya, and Pieter
listening and smiling.
After an almost 10-year hiatus, Massada began to hit music stores again in the
Netherlands in 2004 with the release of a two-CD compilation album, Massada:
Hollands Goud, and in 2005 the release of DVD containing video records of their live
performance.
Massada will be on stage on Sunday, at 4 p.m., as part of the "Moluccan Nite"
performances at Cendrawasih room.
(Evi Mariani)
Further information: www.massada-nl.com www.nippynoya.com
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